In Memoriam: Wanda Anderson

It is with great sadness that we share Iowa’s Biggest Book Sale (IBBS) Vice President and 20+ year volunteer Wanda Anderson has passed. We offer our deepest condolences to her family, friends, and loved ones.

Countless volunteers, past and current, have known Wanda since she began volunteering for the Planned Parenthood Book Sale 20 years ago.  She served as a co-chair of the book sale, was a recipient of the Kitty DuBois volunteer award – an award recognizing outstanding service – and served as vice chair of facilities for many years, which wasn’t an easy task in the old building.  She was someone who simply got things done, and more than one volunteer called her the Energizer bunny.

Whether marking her categories (and often filling in to mark others), checking the book drop, working on signs and the sale map with Toni Zarr, loading, ferrying, and later unloading the equipment and supplies needed to stage the sales with Kay Reasoner, Ann Victor, and their families, or setting up the infrastructure of the sale, Wanda was tireless.  And she was ever-present at the sales, too, taking tickets, serving as chair-in-charge, working in the info booth, and setting up an instant checkout station when the lines were too long.  There was nothing she wouldn’t do.

Wanda’s love for and commitment to the former sale propelled her to work tirelessly to create a new edition of the sale. She remained committed to promoting literacy and giving back to the community by raising money for a worthy cause. She was so pleased that our group of volunteers would be partnering with the Young Women’s Resource Center (YWRC) and was one of the key IBBS representatives throughout the strategic alignment process the two organizations underwent. Although Wanda will not be able to participate in the first YWRC/IBBS sale, she played an integral part of the partnership forming and getting its planning off the ground.

Wanda’s knowledge of every aspect of BookWorks (the sale’s warehouse) operations and the book sales was vast and deep. She found solutions to problems. She didn’t shy away from expressing her honest opinions, which were based on experience and came from her huge heart and love for the book sale and the book sale community. Her contributions have been countless, and it’s difficult to imagine a sale without her presence. But this coming sale will be every bit as much her sale as ours.  Wanda will remain unforgettable, and we will find ways to honor her memory as we go forward.